Summer

Venetian Sweet and Sour Prawns

I’m back after more than a month of Social detox (except for the Instagram stories from the long trip to Norway, which I had to share!), and I confess that the longer the break, the harder it is to get back to creating things, whatever they are. It’s been a long, torrid, and particularly challenging summer for me, but certainly not without some intense and precious moments to cherish forever.

I return with one of my all-time favorite Venetian recipes: “Mazzancolle in Saor” (sweet and sour prawns) served in goblets, on soft and creamy, warm, white polenta. An unmistakable flavor, a cornerstone of Venetian cuisine and that of my home.

The recipe takes a while, but it is easy. It involves slow cooking the onions, which should then be deglazed with white wine vinegar and seasoned with a little salt and sugar. The prawns are quickly fried and then put in a container well covered by the onions. Pine nuts and soaked raisins are added, and the dish is left to marinate in this way for at least 24 hours before eating it.
Then, very simply, you serve the Mazzancolle in Saor over some white, creamy polenta, which you will cook according to times and methods appropriate to the quality chosen, taking care, however, to keep it very soft. Scroll below for the detailed recipe, or watch this video to see how to make it!

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Summer

Venetian-style artichoke linguine

Let’s go straight to the recipe because it’s phenomenal!
I don’t know if I invented it, I just know that I was blown away by its incredible bold flavor when I made it the first time with the little artichokes from my garden!
The secret is all in the creamy sauce you’re going to make with the cooking juices released by the vegetables. Potato plus young artichoke leaves, along with a bit of Parmesan and Pecorino Romano cheese: together they make a delicious slightly bitter sauce to toss your pasta. Continue Reading

Spring, Stories

Risi e bisi, a Venetian classic

 

I know I came late to the fantastic world of Instagram reels & video recipes, but as a photographer, I have a certain stubborn reluctance towards “moving images”, simply because in my mind I keep imagining the scenes I want to represent as “static”, from my usual (and comfortable) frontal – or at most zenithal – point of view.
I’m slowly getting into them though, experimenting and having fun, so today I am here to show you how to make the authentic Venetian “Risi e Bisi“, a traditional and easy recipe perfect for the Spring season when you can find the first sweet new peas.
The peculiarity of almost all Venetian risottos is that they are actually somewhere between a risotto and a soup; the secret to making them perfect is to leave them soft, all’onda, as the Italians say. Continue Reading

Fall, Travel

TUSCIA TO SHARE | A journey through the ancient Etruscan land in the heart of Italy & a recipe for homemade lombrichelli with sausage sauce and wild fennel pollen

That priceless feeling of having really experienced a fulfilling time that you perceive after a trip is just one of the hundred reasons that often brings me to say YES to the adventures that come on my way.
I guess those who love traveling perfectly understand what I mean.
I had already been contacted by local promotional organizations to take part in some sort of press-trips (for example, see my previous posts dedicated to The Netherlands here & here) but only abroad. This time, instead, Italy has called!

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Summer

Potions, cakes and magic with a scent of Helichrysum

Smells accompany us throughout the course of our life, often linking us to very specific memories.
There is the incomparable, unique and special smell of home, welcoming us as an embrace every time we cross the threshold.
There are indissoluble and powerful smells which are linked to our childhood and take us on journeys outside space and time.
We try to keep them in our memory, often with the feeling of having irremediably forgotten them, but if we are lucky enough to smell them once again, we suddenly become certain that actually they’re unforgettable, recorded in our olfactory memory as a safe place to  come back to.

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Spring

In vino veritas: two wine recipes and one confession

This post is in partnership with Millesima, a leader of luxury wines and futures, Italian and French fine wine merchant since 1983. Have a look at their online shop, they guarantee you a service that will take the utmost care of your wine and deliver it promptly to your doorstep! Heaven!

The two desserts I propose in this post (red wine poached pears I also used for some frangipane cream tartlets, get the recipe below!) can be nicely paired with a fruited rosé such as this one, I discovered on www.millesima.it where the variety of fine wines available is exceptional. They offer wines from the best properties in the Rhone, Burgundy, Alsace, and other leading French regions, as well as top producers from Italy that were recently added to the selection. Continue Reading

Travel

CHEESE VALLEY: AN UNFOGETTABLE FOOD-TRIP BETWEEN GOUDA AND WOERDEN IN HOLLAND

CHEESE VALLEY: AN UNFOGETTABLE FOOD-TRIP BETWEEN GOUDA AND WOERDEN IN HOLLAND

Do you know when something incredible happens to you, that you even don’t know where to start to tell about it? Well, that’s exactly what happened with this story that dates back to May 2018, when Francesco and I were invited by NBTC Holland to take part in a “Cheese Valley” press trip in Holland, and more precisely in that small but fascinating so called region, that covers four towns and cities, each with its own history and traditions. Continue Reading

Fall

Before the rain, an intimate dinner in the Venetian Lagoon

I could tell you about a romantic dinner, among the violet flowers that tint the Lagoon at the beginning of Autumn.
I could tell you how the last golden rays of sun at sunset have slashed a leaden sky, reflecting themselves on the surface of placid waters between the emerged shoals which are called barene.
I could also describe the salty, unmistakable, sometimes pungent smell of dried seaweed and dark mud. The smell of the Venetian Lagoon, the one I perceive getting off the train at the railway station, returning from a distant journey.
I could stuff this post with little and poetic visions about what is still an untouched and wild spot, my own escape, the place where I feel an authentic bond with the earth and the sea, while the city implodes in the bustle chaos.
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